Dua Lipa treated fans today with an intimate performance for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk concert series on Youtube, the full video of which can be viewed here. The session was recorded from home like most of the series’ recent episodes, most likely due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions under the UK’s new tier system, so the familiar crowded backdrop of NPR’s Tiny Desk was replaced with a stylish pink tinted room filled only with Dua Lipa, her guitarist and bassist, a tape recorder for drums, and four backing singers.
Fans got to hear live versions of the current favourite circulating the radio waves, ‘Levitating,’ as well as the biggest hit from her ‘Future Nostalgia,’ album to date ‘Don’t Start Now.’ Speaking directly to her fans after the first song, Dua Lipa spoke briefly about how this concert was the first time she had been able to get together with her band since the beginning of the pandemic and expressed her gratitude at being able to get together and give this concert ‘from our home, in London, right back to you wherever you are in the world.’
The performance also featured engaging versions of lesser known tracks from ‘Future Nostalgia,’ including ‘Pretty Please,’ which benefitted especially from a less produced sound with the disco-funk inspired bass and drums locked throughout and the sweet guitar which wouldn’t sound out of place in a track by The 1975 really shines through in this performance, even sneaking a quick solo during ‘Pretty Please,’ which is very refreshing in a pop song.
‘Love Again,’ also shines through in this performance with a less funky, more ballad-like sound with the guitar playing flowing arpeggios which trickle like rain throughout the track supported by a firm and secure rhythm section and the multi-layered harmonies in the backing vocals which are introduced as the song progresses are just the icing on the cake. Dua Lipa shows a more mature side with this performance of ‘Love Again,’ which may see her begin to be taken more seriously than ever before.
Future Nostalgia has now been out for eight months since its release in March this year and has become something of an era for the singer, an unlikely but positive outcome for an album released in such a troubling time for the vast majority of those in the music industry, and a national and international health crisis besides. Dua Lipa is right to be proud of her achievements this year and continue to deliver great content to her fans in lieu of an album tour which has now been pushed back twice into the distant months of 2021.
Dua Lipa is set to begin her ‘Future Nostalgia,’ tour in September 2021, full dates are as follows:
10/09/2021 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool
11/09 – The SSE Hydro – Glasgow
13/09 – Utilita Arena – Newcastle
15/09 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
16/09 – AO Arena – Manchester
21/09 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
24/09 – The O2 – London
25/09 – The O2 – London
27/09 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham
28/09 – Utilita Arena – Birmingham
